Tuesday, April 24, 2012

You guys all know that I simply love to see pictures of what you make with my fabric. So when I got an email the other day from Daria from Kamloops BC of the llama baby quilt she'd made, I was beyond tickled. How brilliant is this quilt?! There are so many things I love about it: keeping the baby's birth information prominent, the pinwheels in the corners (love, love), the yellow sashing that just makes it pop, and of course the 4 llamas standing watch in the corners. It's just adorable Daria!!

One of the things I find the most special about quilts are their enduring quality and the idea that they will be held onto for so many years. Especially baby quilts which will have so many memories associated with them. I hope Benjamin and his family will get many a giggle from the llama keeping them company!!

If you're interested, I still have llama panels and fabric available in my Etsy store here.

Monday, April 16, 2012

I have literally been bouncing off the walls with excitement over the last week or so and I can finally share my news with you! But before I get to the actual news, some quick back story for those of you who might not know it...

When I left my job in advertising in NYC a few years ago and moved back to Austin, TX, I knew that I wanted to make some pretty major changes in my life. After spending nearly 20 years in the corporate world, I really wanted to create a life for myself where I could be creative and I had much more balance. I loved my job and my career, but I knew I needed to make some major changes. I really wasn't at all sure what I wanted to do, but I just knew that I needed to take the leap and just dive in head first.

I spent some time trying a bunch of different things on for size and fit and when I discovered fabric design, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was in my groove. Once I set my mind to building a business around my designs, I set my sights on signing with one of the major fabric manufacturers and was lucky enough to start working with the wonderful team at Robert Kaufman. I also quickly realized that I really wanted to expand my licensing business to include not only having my designs on fabric, but on a whole range of different goods. Think home decor, gift products, baby accessories, party supplies, stationery. Oh. And melamine dishes... How badly do I want my designs to appear on melamine? :)

Over the last 2 years, I've been hard at work on expanding not only my range of fabric designs and my design portfolio, but I've been working on building relationships with manufacturers across different product categories. During that time, I also decided that I wanted to partner with a licensing agent who could represent my work and really help me take my designs to the next level in terms of exposure. But I knew finding an agent who I really clicked with and who really got my designs, could take some time. And lo and behold, that time has come. I'm beyond ecstatic to share that I was approached by Mosaic Licensing, who are now my licensing agents! Here's a snippet from our press release:

We are so delighted to be representing Laurie and her collections of over 600 designs,” said Val Adams, Principal of Mosaic Licensing, Inc. “They have a personality and appeal that truly puts her in a special category of graphic art and pattern. We see a tremendous future in licensing for Laurie’s designs on products from home accessories and home décor to gifts and stationery, baby goods, apparel and craft”.

I can't tell you how much its meant to me to have all of you rooting me on and encouraging me as I've been trying different things and sharing my experiences over the last few years. Thank you so much for all of your support along the way.

Working with Mosaic, I'm so excited to see what else the future might hold.
xoxo
--laurie

Saturday, April 14, 2012

I adored hearing all of your Olympic stories. So much fun! :) Loads of things on my to-do list today, so my post is going to be short and sweet. So without any further ado, let's get to the giveaway winners!! Congrats to the winners who will each receive 1/2 yard sets of my new Next Stop London Line.

Happy weekend everyone!!

kbzelazny 111 said...

LOVE the equestrian and gymnastics events. Hope Friday the 13ths is lucky for me! My daughter is going to London this summer, so I'd love to make her something with this fabric. Thanks so much!

This is such a fantastic line. My 3 year old boy is obsessed with red buses and would love anything made with this fabric. We live in England and are planning to go and see the cycling events but didn't manage to get tickets for anything. The olympic torch will pass 3 miles away so we're going to see that too.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I love the Olympics. I mean seriously love the Olympics. I have so much admiration for all the athletes who have worked so hard for so long to achieve their goals. And there's so much pride and kinship. I just get all squishy inside just thinking about it. And that its being held this summer in London. Oh... how I wish I could go!! Only 107 more days until opening ceremonies!

So you can imagine how spastically excited I got when Robert Kaufman picked up my Next Stop London line and when I learned that it would be releasing amid all of the summer Olympics excitement?! Beyond excited about this line. In fact, I'm thinking a little skirt for myself with red double decker buses may be in order to kick off summer. Now just to find the time to get back to my sewing machine!! :)

How would you like some Next Stop London fabric for your own kick-off to-summer sewing? I'm giving away two half yard sets to two lucky winners.

Just leave your comment here on this post and I'll draw a winner this *lucky* Friday 4/13. I'd love to hear what your favorite summer Olympic sport is or have you share a favorite Olympics moment/memory. Let the Olympics and London love commence. :)